We Are Not Our Users
In a recent article, Scott Berkun describe the kind of thinking that's missing, when designing softwares
We develop inbred thinking in this industry. We spend most of our time
with people who scored over 700 on their math SATs, we know people
involved in IPOs and stock options, and we work with folks who take
computers apart for fun. We forget that the people within our industry
are very different from the rest of the world. That's why going into
the usability lab or a focus group seems like a trip into the twilight
zone. It seems like those users are in the minority, visiting us from
some twisted and slower universe. The reality is this: We are the
overwhelming minority. Those visitors in the usability lab are the
majority, and they are the folks using our products and paying our
salaries.
There is no substitute for watching someone use something
you've built. It's the only way to see how your intended goals match
with the reality. Would you want a surgeon to operate on you without
examining you before as well as after the surgery? Would you want a
building contractor to remodel your kitchen without discussing your
plans and making sure you got what you needed? Good craftspeople want
to understand the world in which their product will be used before
building it. We have the amazing power to create things, and it's easy
to fall into the trap of building things that appeal to us as creators,
instead of things that will appeal to our customers. There's no way to
know how biased you are without working through usability engineering
and other forms of customer feedback. You must spend time with users
throughout the product cycle, repeatedly refreshing the team
perspective on what you're building and for whom.
